Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

STATEMENTS OF INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

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By Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. LAUTENBERG):

S. 1358. A bill to protect scientific integrity in Federal research and policymaking; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the Restore Scientific Integrity to Federal Research and Policymaking Act. I thank my House colleagues Henry Waxman and Bart Gordon, who introduced the original legislation in the House of Representatives. I also thank my colleague, Senator Lautenberg, who is an original co-sponsor of this legislation.

This bill prohibits censoring or tampering with government science and protects government scientists who blow the whistle on abuses.

Thousands of scientists--including 48 Nobel Laureates--have come forward to express their concerns that science has been manipulated or silenced by the Bush Administration.

We learned a few weeks ago, for example, that a White House lawyer with no scientific credentials had been revising government scientific reports on climate change to systematically weaken conclusions on global warming.

In May, the New York Times reported that the southwestern regional director of the Fish and Wildlife Service instructed scientists on his staff to ignore the latest genetic data when determining protections for endangered species.

In 2002, a professor invited to join an NIH advisory committee was called and asked for his views on a number of political issues, including whether he supported abortion rights and whether he had voted for President Bush. The professor--who had not voted for President Bush--was not appointed to the committee.

These are disturbing examples of the intrusion of politics into science. We rely on science to give us objective facts, not political spin. The Restore Scientific Integrity Act will help protect science from political interference.

The Act prohibits Federal employees from obstructing or censoring federally funded scientific research and from disseminating scientific information known to be false or misleading.

The legislation prohibits the use of political litmus tests when appointing experts to serve on scientific advisory committees and strengthens protections against conflicts of interest.

The bill extends whistleblower protections to federal employees who report allegations of political interference with science.

The bill establishes that peer review processes should be established by science-based agencies, not by the Office of Management and Budget.

And, the legislation directs the White House Science Advisor to prepare annual reports on scientific integrity in the federal agencies.

These are common sense provisions that help protect government science from political interference. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.

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